Smoke Day in AUS- and that's a long way from Texas

Smoke day 2017 happily lined up with my Father-in-laws 90th birthday, so we had a party for 70 people.

2.00pm kickoff, and the menu plan was my first ever proper brisket (just like Rich & Barb Dahl!),to be done in the 18.5 WSM, 8 racks of baby backs to be done 4 racks each in two Mini-WSMs, and a butterflied leg of lamb in the 22.5 Performer.

Costco provided the Brisket and Ribs. Large briskets are special order items here but Costco have taken to stocking them, and they also have their ribs cut US style with plenty of meat left on,so it is worth the effort to go there.

So a 15.2lbs ($4.08/lbsAUD, $3.03/lbsUSD) nice peice of meat.

The brisket was put on at midnight, at 225F and given plenty of smoke -some old hickory, Weber brand, that I got with an old Summit 400 I rescued for parts a fortnight ago, and some banksia cones.

After 2hrs smoke, the temp looked stable at 225F, so off to bed with the plan of checking if the brisket was in the stall in the morning and then checking if to wrap or not.

However when I checked it in the morning it was black, crisp and an internal temp of 203-207F.

The WSM had not kept at 225F, rather it was running at 325F. (immediate note to self- must get an ATC)

Immediate panic, removed brisket from WSM. injected it with a cup of beef stock, triple wrapped in foil, and into the esky cooler (or as one of our New Zealand friends referred to it "the chilly bin")

What it did however was free up the WSM to do the ribs in, and not have to use the mini-WSMs.

Got the ribs going with more hickory, banksia cones and macadamia shells.The ribs were quite meaty, so decided not to foil, and gave them a good 5.5hr cook at 225f, saucing for the last hour.

At 4 hours in the cooler, the internal temp of the brisket had dropped to 135F so I decided to cut the beef and keep warm in a crockpot if OK or throw it out and do a quick beef tenderloin cook if required for a replacement.

The ends, well, were burnt. And the rest, especially the point cut very well. Go figure.

I made a quick Mop sauce in case it needed it using the burner on on of the Summit Silvers.

Also used one of the Summits to do 60 foil potatoes.

The smoke station

The Lamb, coated with fresh rosemary,garlic and anchovy, simple grill on the Performer, 45-60 minutes.

A fantastic day was had by all, and every bit of meat was consumed, including the very burnt ends.

Looks great Stephen, nice party. I can see you had your hands full. I've done a couple of brisket flats that came out great so I knew what I was looking for with the full packer.
What you experienced is exactly why I did a high heat cook (365) for two hours then wrapped in foil for 2- 2 1/2 more until about 201 and probed tender.
It came out just as good as the brisket flats I've done. Got a good nights sleep, packer on at 09:45 am and done and in the cooler at 2:10pm. We froze the point for burnt ends later on which will also be a new experience for Barb and I.
Made for a very relaxing day.
Good to see your post and remember we are still in the export business if you need anything.

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